Michelangelo c attori



' (No Model.)

M. CATTORI. ELEGTRIO' RAILWAY.

No.. 492,659; Patented 11610.4-28, 189s..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHELANGELO CATTORI, OF EOME, ITALY.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 492,659, dated February28, 1893.

Application filed July 23, 1892. Serial No. 440,975. (No model.)Patented in ItalyDecember 21, 1891,*No. 30,954; in Belgium March 26,1892, No. 98,987, and in England March 29, 1892, No, 6,119.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHELANGELO CAT- TORI, a subject of the King ofItaly, and residing at Rome, Italy, have invented a new and ImprovedElectric Railway, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in Italy,No. 30,954, dated December 21,1891; in Great Britain, No. 6,119, datedMarch 29, 1892; and in Belgium, No. 98,987, dated March 26, 1892,) i

of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of electric railwaysin which a conductor is divided into sections, and a series of circuitbreakers are arranged to connect the several sections and operated bymoving contacts carried by a car.

My invention relates principally to the circuit breakers and the meansof operating them, and the object of the invention is to produce asimple railway which may be economically operated, and in which thecircuit breakers and their operating contacts are constructed so as towork easily, be durable, and operate without sparking.

To this end, my invention consists in certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ot'this specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with a portion of the circuit breaker insection, of the series conductor used in carrying out the invention.Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 3, showing in detailthe conductor and the circuit making and breaking contact which slidesupon the conductor. Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the conductorandthe sliding contact. Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section of theswitch box and circuit closing mechanism, on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.Fig. 5 is a detail plan of the conductor and moving circuit. Fig. 6 is across section of a form of conduit adapted for use in carrying out thesystem, showing also the arrangement of the conductor within it. Fig. 7is a detail longitudinal section of the conduit, showing the conductorand its supports in side elevation. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic View of aseries system railway embodying my invention; and Fig. 9 is a similarview, but with the connections in parallel.

The conduit 10, may be of any approved form, and it has an opening inthe top, this being made between a split rail 11 which forms no part ofmy invention. Extending longitudinally through the conduit is aconductor made up of a series of sections 12, each section being of alength somewhat less than that of a car to be used on the road, and theconductor is preferably made in the form of an inverted T-iron, as shownin the drawings. A parallel conductor 13 extends alongside of theconduit, and this may be used either as a return conductor or as afeeding conductor to supply electricity to the sections 12. The ends ofthe sections l2 are separated, as shown at 14, and over these breaks areswitch boxes 15, which are supported by bronze arms 16 which are securedto the adjacent sections 12, and the arms have upturned outer ends whichare screwed into insulators 17, these being supported from the bottom ofthe rail 11. It' desired, however, the switch boxes may be made ofinsulating material and secured directly to therail. In each switch boxand on one side thereof, is a contact fork 18, opening inward andconnected with one section ot' the conductor 12, as shown by the wire ain Fig. 4.

Pivoted centrally in the lower portion of the switch box 15, is a switchor circuit breaker 19, which has a bent arm 20 on its upper side, andthe arm registers with the contact fork 18, so that when pushed into thefork, contact will be made therewith and the circuit closed. The switch19 is connected with the section 12 of the conductor next to the sectionwith which the fork 18 is connected. The switch has depending divergingarms 21, which are adapted to contact with the upturned and outwardlycurved wings or blades 22, of asliding contact 23, this contact beingadapted to be carried by a plow or other arrangement connected with thecar and extending downward through the split rail 11. The contactis madein two parts, and these are provided at the bottom with abutting IOOflanges 24, which are bolted together. This arrangement permitsl thecontact to be easily applied to the conductor 12. rIhe wings or blades22 have their outer surfaces at a constant distance, and each blade iswider at one end than at the other, the wider portion of one bladecoming opposite the narrower portion of the other, consequently as thecontact is moved, the wider end of one blade willA strike one of thearms 21 of the switch 19, so as to operate the switch to close thecircuit,

and the thicker end of the opposite blade will blades being adapted tocontact'with rollersl 25 carried above and below the contact wedges 25.Consequently, when a contact is moving in the direction of the arrow in-Fig. 8, the upper blade will strike the upper roller 25, and open thecircuit, and the lowerblade will immediately after strike the lowerroller and close the circuit. Either of the forms of circuit breaker maybe used', or other modifications of the same.

In carrying out the invention, two contacts are used and connected witheach end of a car, and the system operates as follows: The contacts atopposite ends of the car are ar.- range'dfso that the blades willincline in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 8, and if theconnection is in series, as is shown, and the car or train is moving inthe direction of the large arrow, the front contact as it passes betweenthe rollers 25 will leave the contact wedge 25 raised so as to make abreak at the point 14, -and the rear contact is arranged so that as itpasses between the rollers it will press lastupon the lower roller andpush down the con-tact so as to close the circuit. It will be seen bythis arrangement that at least one break will always be made between thetwo contacts and that the last contact will close the circuit throughthe conductor section behind it. This arrangement will therefore preventsparking, and it will cause the current to be shunted through the motors26 on the car, and it'will be seen that the entire-current will passthrough the car and back to the conductors so that a greatmany cars maybe successfully operated on the same circuit, as but comparativelylittle current is lost. yIn Fig.9 the same arrangement is shown as inFig. 8, except that the connection is in parallel. Here a main supplyconductor 27 is used, which connects with the several contacts 25,bywires b, land the current is carried from the contacts through themotors 26 of the car in the manner already described and then returnedthrough the return conductor 13. The only difference between thisarrangement and that shown in Fig. 8, is that the circuit breakers onthe passage of the contacts connect the conductor sections with the mainconductor ofthe current. Instead of-operating on the wedgeshapedconductors 25, the form of circuit breakers shown in Fig.4 and contactshown in Fig.` 5 may be used, the result being the same.

It will be understood that this system may be usedl overheadV as well,yas in a conduit if desired. y

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new anddesire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In an electric railway, the combination, with theconductor arranged in sections and the switch boxes 15. arrangedatjunctions of said sections and having a contact 18, of ythe circuitbreaker 1 9, which is pivoted and hangs in a vertical plane so as toswing transversely of the line of travel of the cars, the saidcircuitbreaker having an upper contact arm, 20,

'and divergent arms, 21, on its lower end, the

sliding contact, 23, having opposite and outwardly curved wings, 22,andl adapted to be carried by the car so as to pass between saiddivergent arms, as shown and described.

2. In an electric railway, the combination, with the conductorconstructed in a series of sections, of a circuit making and breakingswitch arranged between each ofthe sections and having dependingdiverging arms, and a sliding contact held to slide on the sections, thecontact having oppositely extending blades to engage the switch armsand-open and close the switch, the bladesbeing wider at one end than atthe other, but having when united a constant distance between theirouter edges, substantially7 as described.

In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specication in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

MICHELANGELO CATTORI'.

` Witnesses:

AUGUsTUs O. BOURN, W. B. ZANARDo.

IOO

